Food Straight From the Farm
Did you know that the food you buy at a grocery store and labeled fresh can travel an average of 1500 miles and can be weeks old before even reaching your grocery store?
The Center for Urban Education and Sustainable Agriculture provides 10 great reasons to visit your local farmer’s market and to buy food products directly from those who grow them. You can read them here.
Purchasing meat and vegetables directly ensures your money is promoting sustainable agriculture and proper treatment of animals used for meat and eggs.
Why grass-fed animal meat?
Animals fed grass, rather than raised intensively on grain in crowded feedlots, are shown to have a superior ratio of good fatty acids (Omega 3) to bad fatty acids (Omega 6).
Grass fed animals produce meat which is healthier for you. This ratio is also superior in eggs coming from hens who are allowed to forage on grass (we use the term “pastured”) than those confined to cages to intensively produce eggs.
The flavor of a grass fed animal is superior to grain fed animals.
Why not Organic?
We are striving towards organic production of vegetables and livestock. However, certification for a farm of our size is incredibly time consuming.
Our project for this Winter is to get our pastures certified organic as a step towards overall farm certification. We are proud to be mixing our own fertilizer and have used no prohibited substances in the production of vegetables or field crops since moving to Greyfields.
Our animal products are produced “naturally" which means we use no feed medicated with antibiotics or hormones to promote unnatural growth rates. We do provide vaccinations and treatment to animals when medically warranted. In our very wet climate, parasites are a constant difficulty with our cows, sheep and goats. Therefore, we do de-worm our animals, which would be prohibited under organic rules.
Growing small grains
This year we are growing winter rye, oats and field peas to harvest and feed to our pigs and poultry. In a time of escalating feed prices, we hope this step will enable us to remain sustainable and keep our animals well fed during potential grain shortages. Growing small grains is also gives Loren the chance to use his 1965 combine harvester which is the size of a small tank.
In addition to small grains, we plan to experiment in 2008 with growing fodder crops for our livestock such as field turnips and beets. We are also using green manure and fodder crops to help reclaim our pastures without the need for herbicides and sprays.
Learning farm arts
Since moving to Greyfields, we have learned to make our own hard cider, salt and cure our own bacon and ham, and make our own goat cheese. We drink our own goat milk and eat our own meat and vegetables, which is immensely satisfying. Although we can't sell these products to the public, we would be happy to discuss these topics with anyone who is interested in self sufficiency. .
